A month ago, I returned from leading a 4-man Air Force training team to Colombia to teach high angle rescue techniques to Colombian Air Force helicopter crews and para-rescue personnel. This is Part 12 of the chronicles of my adventurous trip to Colombia…
Day 12 continued … The Culmination Exercise
This afternoon was our culmination exercise! The PJs decided to create a scenario to challenge the crews with some of the tactics and techniques we’ve been teaching. They called it “THE CULMINATION”. For this exercise, the entire class was broken into 2 teams, each with it’s own helicopter crew and Rescatistas. Each team was given a series of coordinates where they were required to insert and extract their respective teams and equipment for time. The ground requirements are explained in the photo captions.
The first task was to insert the team and necessary equipment to a specified location
The second task was to enter a building and exit out of the window with only the equipment they had when they were inserted
Member of ‘Team 1′ making a quick exit
The third task was to extract the team and the equipment. This is Team 2 preparing for extraction
The last two members of Team 1 being hoisted to safety
The last two members of Team 2 giving me the ‘thumbs up’ as they complete their portion of the exercise
Team 2 waiting on their last member to get out of the building
Team 2 in a hover, silhouetted against the sun
Two members of Team 2 almost secure in the helicopter
In the end, Team 2 managed to complete the whole exercise in 17 minutes compared to 19 for Team 1. We were extremely pleased with the level of participation and how seriously they took the exercise.
Here’s a picture I took of our whole class (minus me, of course):
Tomorrow we’re heading back to Bogota to close out our trip. It’s been amazing!
Related Posts
1. A Night in Orlando – Colombia Chronicles
2. Arriving in Bogota - Colombia Chronicles
3. SECDEF, the FARC, and Palanquero - Colombia Chronicles
4. Helicopter Academics - Colombia Chronicles
5. Urban Rescue Ops – Colombia Chronicles
6. Free Fall Skydiving – Colombia Chronicles
7. Snatch-and-grab – Colombia Chronicles
8. Helicopter insertion/extraction – Colombia Chronicles
9. Water Operations – Colombia Chronicles
10. Running, Night Fliying, and Missed Birthdays – Colombia Chronicles
11. Jumping out of a Blackhawk – Colombia Chronicles
The scenery was breathtaking!
